Being healthy is a lifetime pursuit – not a destination. This month, I will be sharing tips and information on how to be – and stay — healthy.

Is there more to life than meets the eye?

I certainly hope so. Because, especially of late, it would be pretty depressing if all life had to offer is what is in the news or what is trending. To be spiritual implies that one believes that mortality has a higher purpose. To embrace spirituality “is a broader concept than religion, although that is one expression of spirituality. Other expressions include prayer, meditation, interactions with others or nature, and relationship with God or a higher power.” Spirituality gives meaning, inner peace, comfort and hope.

There is a connection between spirituality and good health. Some research shows that “things such as positive beliefs, comfort and strength gained from religion, meditation and prayer can contribute to healing and a sense of well-being. Improving spiritual health may not cure an illness, but it may help you feel better, prevent some health problems and help you cope with illness, stress or death.”

In our secular world, knowing how to go about embracing spirituality can be tricky, especially if you have never been introduced to it or have been away from it for a while. An obvious place to find spirituality is at a church where there is a strong connection between personal faith and a supportive community that believes in the same principles. Everything I am, or hope to be, comes from my spiritual grounding with my church.

Books are another good place to discover ways to embrace spirituality. Recently, I have been reading the book, Open Boxes – The Gifts of Living a Full and Connected Lifeby Christine Organ. Christine is a wife, mother, and self-proclaimed “faithful optimist” who shares stories (they feel like journal entries) that show “how to live fully and connect deeply by reveling in the sacred within everyday living.” At the very beginning, Christine shares what she has found to be the “one common denominator that connects it all – spirituality” For Christine, as soon as she “stopped separating spirituality from everything else and came to terms with the idea that spirituality is inextricably a part of everything, the lens turned ever so slightly and things started to come into focus.”

I appreciated how Christine’s personal stories can serve as a great motivator that anyone can live a full life by looking for grace, wonder, and miraclesin everyday living. Through her experiences, Christine proves that, whether it be with friends (like her “Spirituality Girls”), at church (she attends a Unitarian church), with family, or even in an Old Navy parking lot, “sometimes we need to pause, if only for a moment, to catch our breath and marvel at where we’ve come from, and consider where we are called to go.” That pausing – to me – is a key to embracing spirituality and leading a healthy lifestyle.

#18: Stay Healthy and Be Healthy: Embrace Spirituality

Spirituality can contribute to healing and a sense of well-being, may prevent some health problems, and help you cope with illness, stress or death.

About Caryn

Hi. I'm Caryn, your Mid Life Guru -- an authentic and trusted mid-life voice sharing the wisdom I've gained in my first 50 years and adding to it new, relevant, and exciting information to get through the next 50.